Get inspired to remodel your home with these amazing before-and-after pictures.

Before: A North Carolina Bungalow

Before: A North Carolina Bungalow

Trees crowded this house, the veranda's railing was missing, and a lack of landscaping made the house unwelcoming.

"I'm always in search of the ugly duckling," says designer Ann Nicholson, referring to the day that she and her husband, Charles, stopped short in front of this 1910 Craftsman-style bungalow with zero curb appeal, a partially gutted interior, and a 'For Sale by Owner' sign pushed into an overgrown lawn. "Immediately, I pulled out a pen to jot notes on a wrinkled paper napkin."

After: A Bright and Lively Home

To accentuate the bungalow's clean lines, a new porch railing was added, and the old roof was replaced with faux slate. Tired aluminum siding was exchanged for prefinished planking. Deliberately rigid "jardin style" plantings lend structure and cheerful opulence to the outside. The same is true of the canvas draperies on the porch.